The Japanese merchant ship Montevideo Maru was torpedoed by an American submarine on July 1, 1942, while carrying around 1,000 Allied prisoners, most of whom were Australians who died when the ship sank.
Notes on verification
Multiple independent, high-quality sources (Australian War Memorial, National Archives of Australia, Wikipedia, CNN, NPR) corroborate all core elements: the torpedoing by USS Sturgeon, the date, the number of POWs, and the predominantly Australian death toll. Minor variance in exact casualty figures across sources does not undermine the claim. [cascade flags: wikipedia_dropped_other_sources_exist | tier=silver indep_score=0.988 clusters=4 claim_tier=notable]
Sources
- 117 Fascinating Finds Revealed in 2023 - Smithsonian Magazine (seed:history_and_archaeology)
- https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/montevideo_maru (corroboration)
- https://www.naa.gov.au/help-your-research/fact-sheets/sinking-montevideo-maru (corroboration)
- https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/21/asia/montevideo-maru-found-south-china-sea-intl-hnk/index.html (corroboration)
- https://www.pittwateronlinenews.com/Montevideo-Maru-Lost-at-Sea-Memorial-Mona-Vale.php (corroboration)